7 Pieces on My January Wish List
Investment pieces in the sales, plus need-to-know independent designers.
To be totally honest, I haven’t made any resolutions this year. I made some last January and felt pressure to stick to them - and disappointment when I inevitably didn’t.
Instead, I looked at some of the habits I picked up last year and realised I made some positive changes naturally (not with a self-imposed resolution), so they’re all things I’m carrying on into 2024. One is acceptance that things don’t always go the way I plan them to. Another is daily yoga or Pilates. And the other is conscious consumption of clothing: really thinking about what I’m buying, where it’s from and how it’s made, and whether there is a genuine, long-lasting place for it in my wardrobe.
My January wish list follows in this vein. Each piece is a wardrobe staple, something I know I can wear with loads of other things I currently own and that I’ll carry on wearing for years to come.
Toteme wide-leg jeans
End-of-season sales are always a funny one. I’ve definitely been guilty of getting overexcited by a heavy discount and buying something I’ve regretted later (I wrote about that more here). But I’ve also bought some of my most worn pieces at an excellent price, so I don’t think they should be shunned entirely if there’s something you genuinely want.
I use sales now to invest in pieces that I love and feel my wardrobe is missing - or to buy for upcoming occasions like weddings or hot-weather holidays. These Toteme jeans in the Matches sale are a case in point. They have a barrel-leg shape, which is my favourite, and they’re black so I know I’ll wear them with everything in my wardrobe (I wrote more about my approach to buying jeans here). From my experience with Toteme trousers, they fit true to size so I’d say go for your usual fit. These jeans are also available in off-white.
COS colour block socks
Yep, socks. They may not be the most exciting item you can add to your wardrobe but they sure do make a big difference to an outfit. They’re the thing you notice when someone sits down and their ankle-length trousers creep up, and they make wearing ballet flats or loafers bearable in winter.
I’ve been loving wearing my Mary Janes with a pair of colourful socks over the past few weeks. With an all-black outfit (which I wear often), they add a subtle but effective pop of colour, and it makes a nice change to my usual boot-wearing at this time of year. I’ve currently got my eye on this pair of caramel-coloured ribbed socks from COS, to add a bit more colour to my winter looks.